This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

LOS ANGELES—On the vast campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, at its southwest edge near Wilshire Blvd. and Fairfax Ave., there’s a historic building where for more than half a century, starting in 1939, the May Company operated its flagship department store.

Purchased by LACMA for temporary exhibits after the store closed in 1993, the space is currently rented to a private presenter for an entertaining fashion exhibit. Journey of a Dress (running until April 1) celebrates the 50th anniversary of Diane von Furstenberg’s wrap dress, with 200 mannequins wearing different versions of the revolutionary design.

But those who return to this place three years from now will enter a whole other universe. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is about to transform this building into one of the greatest coming attractions in Hollywood history: the $300-million Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

The idea of creating such a museum has been a dream going all the way back to 1929, the first year awards were handed out by the Academy and, over the years, there have been various attempts to make it happen.

But according to Bill Kramer, managing director of the project, now is the right time to make that dream a reality.

Article Continued Below

“Over the past few years, L.A. has been evolving rapidly as a global culture centre,” Kramer told me after I visited the building and took in the von Furstenberg show. “L.A. has an appetite for more: more art, more culture.”

L.A. also happens to be the home turf of major figures in the entertainment industry who have deep pockets as well as a strong commitment to mythologizing the history and lore of the showbiz industry in which they have spent their lives.

That’s why Kramer has already raised $200 million, including $25 million from David Geffen, $10 million from Steven Spielberg and $10 million from Jeffrey Katzenberg.

A prominent Canadian couple have also stepped forward as leading donors. Gerald Schwartz, CEO of Onex Corp., and Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo, have pledged $5 million. The mezzanine gallery will be named in their honour.

When I asked Schwartz what prompted the gift, he replied, “The movie industry has been enormously profitable for Onex. This was an opportunity for me to personally say thank you by helping the Academy become more accessible to millions of movie fans.”

The Academy is leasing the building from LACMA for 110 years. That was an offer the Academy could not refuse, to quote a line from one of the movies bound to be celebrated in its new museum.

As a result, the Academy ditched a previous plan to build its museum a few miles away in the heart of Hollywood itself, after spending $50 million to assemble a parcel of land for what would have been a $400-museum built from scratch.

The financial meltdown of 2008 caused the Academy to change course.

“Given the economic climate, it seemed prudent to put that project on hold,” says Kramer.

The upshot: with its LACMA location, the Academy now gets greater square footage and a lower price tag.

Finally the museum is moving full speed ahead and has reached the no-turning-back stage.

Award-winning architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali are collaborating on the design, renovating existing space while leaving the exterior of the historic building intact. But they are also expanding by adding a huge glass sphere, an elevated glass dome and a roof garden.

The museum will have 290,000 square feet of galleries, plus three movie theatres and spaces for temporary exhibitions and special events. One sprawling gallery will be devoted to Academy history and Hollywood films. Another will cover the history of film in the rest of the world.

As for what will be included and what won’t, details are at the sketchy stage. One prize object that will definitely be on view: the ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz.

What about the Rosebud sled from Citizen Kane, Charlie Chaplin’s cane and Marilyn Monroe’s costumes?

Kramer says the museum plans to buy some objects and borrow others. The objective, he explains, is to “punctuate the conversation” and create an environment compelling enough to motivate movie lovers to seek an experience beyond watching movies at home.

The Academy Museum will also lure tourists with travelling exhibitions, such as the Tim Burton show and the Stanley Kubrick show, both of which drew huge crowds to LACMA. And inevitably there will be interactive attractions.

The biggest challenge will be to walk the thin line between scholarly institution paying homage to cinematic art and tawdry carnival for tour operators.

“Our goal is to provide an immersive and moving experience,” says Kramer.

We won’t know until 2017 whether the finished product lives up to the trailer.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com